M

M was Fritz Lang's first sound movie, and it is extremely talky for a film from 1931. But even though it could have stood a lot of trimming, it still has some powerful scenes that have made it a classic through the years.

Lang was a key part of German Expressionism, as he had previously made the gold standard in that department, Metropolis. M is a crime film, and is not in any way futuristic, grounded much more in realism. But the use of shadows and, intriguingly, sound, made it transcend genre.

A German city has a child murderer on the loose. The first scene depicts children playing a game like "Eeny Meeny," although they use a macabre rhyme referencing a man in black who will mince them into bits. One of the girls, on her way home from school, stops by a poster plastered to a lamppost, offering a reward for the capture of the child murderer. A shadow appears in the shot, covering the poster, and the bearer of the shadow says the girl has a very pretty ball. What a chilling way Lang introduces us to Hans Beckert, the murderer, played by Peter Lorre.

He will buy the little girl a balloon, and then, in a quick succession of shots, we understand her fate: a place set on the dinner table for her at home, never to be used; the ball, rolling to a stop on a patch of grass; and the balloon floating to the sky, bouncing off some telephone wires.

The police are under pressure to solve the case, and conduct a series of raids on bars and other hangouts of criminal activity. This makes it tough for organized crime to do business. A terrific scene, though it goes on too long, crosscuts between the police discussing how they are solving the case (it was a time when forensics, such as fingerprint and handwriting analysis were starting to be used) with a meeting of crime bosses. The head criminal, called the Safecracker, suggests that they conduct their own manhunt for the killer.

With two groups looking for him, the net closes around Lorre. One outstanding shot, presumably from a crane, shows in cornered by beggars, who have been enlisted by the crooks to find him. He has been identified by a blind man, interestingly enough, because he has a habit of whistling Grieg's "In The Hall Of The Mountain King." To make it easy for him to find, another man uses chalk to inscribe the letter M, for murderer, on his back. He ducks into a building, but is caught by the crooks, who take him to an abandoned distillery and conduct a kangaroo court.

This climactic scene is the most remarkable of the film, and Lorre, in his star-making role (though it would typecast him as a villain for the rest of his career) is amazing as he tells the assembled group of criminals that he can not help what he does. It's an interesting ethical conundrum--do these crooks, including the Safecracker, who it is pointed out has been charged with three counts of manslaughter, have a right to judge him?

The critics at the time did suggest the film was too long. It's only about 100 minutes but it's a lot of dialogue that is redundant. But for its daring subject matter, it's use of atmosphere, and the questions it asks, it deserved to be seen.